Cars

The Pilgrimage. Great drives to meet marque gurus. ‘The C1’s suspension allows you to chuck it around’ We pilot the first of the twin-headlamp Corvettes to Britain’s top guru via the birthplace of British aviation in remote corner of Kent. Words Russ Smith. Photography Charlie Magee.

The Kicker Studebaker. A thoroughly retro demo car from one of the undisputed kings of American audio. With all that Kicker gear it’s as loud as it is low too! When Kicker Audio decide to build a showcase for their latest speakers, they don’t mess about. This 1950 Studebaker is testament to the passion of a bunch of enthusiasts who didn’t want to just screw some speakers into yet another minivan…

Hungarian Dodge Challenger. Built as a homage to a Foose original this European Challenger certainly has all the bells and whistles… oh and a huge exhaust! American muscle cars are just as popular on this side of the pond as they are in their homeland, though this ‘1972 Dodge Challenger proves that actually building one in Europe is harder than it might seem!

Remember the days when your dad changed the gearbox on your mum’s BL Mini in a weekend, pausing only for a cup of tea, cheese sandwich and ten minutes of World of Sport? I certainly can, just like I can recall my very petite and middle class mum underneath our three-year old Escort Mexico holding the gearbox up whilst Everett Snr got the top two bellhousing bolts in.

The classic car market is in full silly season, with mind-boggling prices being paid for some extraordinary and also very ordinary cars. Now, six figure sums for an M1 (the proper original one) can be justified because at the time, it was an absolutely tremendous thing – it combined the style, performance and agility of cars such as the 308GTB and the Bora… but it actually worked and wasn’t tragic on fuel. Grossly undervalued for so long it’s finally found its mark.

I recently part-exchanged my 2014 535d M Sport for a brand-new Range Rover Sport Autobiography… and, oh dear, how I miss my 5 Series. So much so, in fact, that I was originally trying to buy it back and reverse the deal. The dealer wanted an extra £5000 from me for less than a week’s worth of driving the Range Rover. Initially I said no, but decided I missed my car so much I really had no choice. So I agreed but then, the day before we was supposed to change back, the dealer called and told me it wanted a further £2800 as that is what Land Rover had contributed to the deal. At this stage I had to wave goodbye to my Five.

BMW 1 Series M Coupé E82 Buying Guide. Buying Guide BMW’s best modern classic, the wonderful 1 Series M Coupé.  The 1M Coupé is one of our favourite machines from the last ten years – a hoot to drive and cast iron values make it a sure-fire collector’s piece. Words: Bob Harper and Andrew Everett. Photography: BMW.

The very last Group A 635 CSi Team JPS BMW ever made now resides in a Queensland shed. We checked it out. Words and photography: Chris Nicholls. JPS 635CSi race car. Simply the Best. The story behind one of Australia’s most well-known race cars, the very last Group A JPS 635CSi E24.

The Eighth Wonder. A stunning M1 that started life as a Procar, was then a road car, and is now a road-going Procar!  M1 Procar for the road BMW’s mid-engined masterpiece reimagined as the ultimate road car. BMW’s jewel-like M1 is a rare and desirable art piece, while its Procar sibling is a terrifying, jawdropping brute. So what happens when you combine the two…? Words: Daniel Bevis. Photography: Zach Todd.

Market watch: BMW E9 CS Coupés. This month we take a break from the auction floor and have a look at the E9 Coupé with the help of the BMW Car Club’s John Castle and Nick Hull from the club’s CS register.

These two bad boys represent the pinnacle of their generations but are we seduced by the V8-engined M3 or the turbocharged M4? Words: Bob Harper. Photography: Dave Smith.

Driving all generations of BMW’s executive express. Five stars. The Generation Game. Sampling all seven generations of the 5 Series – BMW’s illustrious executive express. The launch of the seventh-generation BMW 5 Series allowed us the opportunity to drive some of its great predecessors. Words: Shane O’ Donoghue. Photography: BMW.